To Lean
by aaincognito
Summary: [InuKai] Ah, training camp. Exhaustion, breaks in water pipes, annoying freshmen, cramped sleeping arrangements, Inui driving Kaidoh insane, headaches... Could be considered to be in the same universe as 'To Protect' and 'To Have.'


Title: To Lean  
Author: A. A. Incognito  
Pairing: InuKai  
Warnings: ignoring of series timeline?  
Rating: PG  
Note: If you choose to view it as such, this could be in the same "universe" as To Protect and To Have, and would come after the previous two.  
Summary: Ah, training camp. Exhaustion, breaks in water pipes, annoying freshmen, cramped sleeping arrangements, Inui driving Kaidoh insane, headaches...

**To Lean**

Kaidoh knew he was leaning on Inui-senpai, just slightly, but he couldn't convince himself to stop. Inui hadn't said anything yet, but he had to be aware of it.

He... was tired. Exhausted, even. But so was everyone else, and none of them were standing--leaning. He wondered if Inui had ever been unreliable for a single moment in his life. They had just finished up a day of extensive training, yet Inui stood, calm, collected, and hiding that he was out of breath very well, even though he'd done just as much as the rest of them--probably more, with all the weights he had to be wearing. Letting Kaidoh lean on him.

"Good work today, everyone," Ryuzaki-sensei was saying, but no one was really paying attention anymore. "You can have tomorrow morning off, but after lunch it'll be more of the same."

Various groans sounded from amongst the tired heap of Seigaku regulars. Even Inui sighed, but Kaidoh felt more than heard it.

Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai helped each other up and began the weary walk back to the house they were staying in, and everyone else soon followed suit. Dinner was a quiet affair, and bathing the same. Kaidoh couldn't even work up the energy to do more than grumble at Momoshiro's subdued antics. Afterward, by unspoken agreement, everyone headed to bed.

Or they would have, if the entire sleeping room hadn't been completely soaked from a sizable leak in a pipe that no one had noticed. The freshman trio (did they really have to go _everywhere_ the regulars went?) found dry bedding for everyone, and they decided to divide the remaining smaller rooms between them. For a few moments no one said anything, but everyone began edging toward their preferred roommate. Kaidoh hissed softly as the rest of the team paired up. Echizen was probably one of the only regulars who wasn't more than a little wary of him, but Momoshiro had practically pounced on the freshman. And Inui-senpai was leaving the room--

"Are you coming, Kaidoh?" Inui asked over his shoulder as he left.

That was a stupid question.

The room was small. Smaller than small. Which meant Inui was all of two feet away, scribbling in a notebook. Kaidoh sat with his back to the outside wall, staring down at a book he'd brought along with the steady scritch-scritch of Inui's pencil driving him insane. What data could he have possibly collected between dinner and now?

"This isn't data, it's more of a personal journal. Yes, you did say that out loud. I'll finish this momentarily so you can go to sleep--you don't normally make slips like that." A few seconds later, the notebook had been tucked away in the older boy's bag. Kaidoh tossed his book near his own, resolving to get it in the morning.

He paused.

They were going to sleep.

No one slept in their glasses, not even Inui.

Obstinately Kaidoh rolled onto his side, facing away from his senpai. He heard the distinctive click of glasses being removed and folded, but he did not turn. Inui switched the light off, and there was a rustle of blankets followed by a soft, "Goodnight."

They slept.

Kaidoh woke first, used to rising early for his run, even though he wouldn't be going today. At the beginning of the camp, Inui-senpai had cautioned him against his usual workouts since they had no idea what sort of training the coming days would bring. Not for the first time, Kaidoh wondered if anyone else had a customized training regimen like he did.

"Ah. I thought you would be up before me."

Startled, Kaidoh hissed and looked over at his roommate automatically, belatedly realizing Inui probably wasn't wearing his glasses--but he was. A small wave of disappointment rose in him, but he ignored it. Instead he found himself asking, "How bad is your eyesight, senpai?"

"I doubt my exact prescription is of interest to you. Here."

And then Inui's glasses were on Kaidoh, and the world became a place lacking defined edges, nothing more than colored blurs in the vague shapes of familiar objects. He blinked. "I can't see anything."

"As expected. Your vision is close to perfect."

Cool fingers gently brushed against his cheeks and lifted the glasses off. He could see again--but Inui couldn't and he had black eyes that looked different from what Kaidoh had imagined, but the same, somehow. The older boy grinned and slid his glasses back on while Kaidoh gaped. He'd just... he'd just... the second year looked away and pretended to find the weave of his blanket fascinating. Had that really just happened?

"Interesting." And there was the scritch-scritch of writing again, but Kaidoh refused to turn back and reveal his embarrassment. "Shall we go eat breakfast? The one passable cook from the freshmen seems to be an early riser, as well."

Breakfast was uneventful; only Taka-san and the freshman Inui had predicted would be awake were up and moving. Taka-san was discussing sushi with the freshman, which was sort of interesting to listen to, but his attention wandered. Kaidoh could tell Inui was studying him--it was a familiar enough feeling--but that reminded him of the Glasses Incident, which made him wonder _why_ it had happened, which led to so many other questions he was beginning to get a headache.

He went for a walk after breakfast to help get his thoughts back on track--he was here to train and improve himself, not drive himself insane trying to understand his senpai's motives. His efforts were rendered useless when Inui decided to accompany him, although he did learn a lot about the various plants in the vicinity of the house.

Why had Inui chosen him to room with? Why had Inui taken his glasses off in front of him? Why did Inui trust him?

"Why" had become his constant mantra when he was with Inui, it seemed, and Inui rarely provided concrete answers.

By the time they wandered back to the house, it was lunch time, and the only open seats were at two different tables. Kaidoh caught Inui frowning out of the corner of his eye as he went to sit with Echizen and Momoshiro. Echizen looked uncomfortable to be sitting between the two second years, but Kaidoh didn't really care. He was still thinking about the Incident. Maybe Inui-senpai's ultimate goal _was_ to drive him insane--but that didn't make any sense. Or did it?

All in all, Kaidoh was grateful that the afternoon's training left him too tired to think. He and Inui were sitting this time, back to back, leaning against each other to remain upright. Kikumaru-senpai practically had to be carried to bed that night, but Oishi-senpai didn't seem to mind.

Inui was already in the room by the time Kaidoh got there, except something wasn't right. The upperclassman had a notebook open in front of him and a pencil in hand, but was completely motionless.

"Senpai?" he asked softly, kneeling down on his designated half of the room.

Inui's head snapped up, and it was impossible not to see the pain evident in his expression. "Kaidoh, I didn't notice--"

"Are you all right?" he interrupted, leaning forward a little. Inui was usually pale, but this was beyond that.

"Just a tension headache, I think."

"Turn around," Kaidoh said, and was somehow not surprised when Inui complied without a word. Carefully he ran his fingers over Inui's shoulders to his neck, where most of the knotted muscles were located. He'd never done this before, but his mother had done this for him a few times when he was younger and new to the stresses of tennis. Trying to help Inui was the least he could do.

Inui made an odd noise in the back of his throat as Kaidoh started rubbing as gently as he could while still having an effect. He froze at the first potential sign of protest and blurted, "Is this all right?" After receiving a slight nod in response, he tentatively resumed the motions. What else had his mother done? The lights were already dim, and it wasn't noisy... She'd always removed his bandana, though. Maybe...

"These probably aren't helping," he said quietly, bringing one hand up to lightly touch the frame of Inui's glasses. His mother had always just taken his bandana off without asking, but there was no way he could do that to his senpai.

But Inui was reaching up--and the glasses were set gently on top of the pile of clothes next to his bag. "Have you been taking lessons from Oishi that I didn't know about?"

"No." As if he'd do this for anyone else on the team. Anyone else, period. He definitely wasn't a mother hen type like Oishi-senpai was. "Is it helping at all?"

"Yes."

After several minutes the knotted muscles under his fingertips had loosened, and his hands drifted upward again to rub gentle circles at Inui's temples. A sense of pleasure rose within him as he realized most of the tension had left the body in front of him; it really had helped. Then Inui grabbed both his wrists, and he nearly jumped out of his skin he was so startled by the sudden contact--which was stupid, considering he was the one touching Inui to begin with. He tried to apologize for overstepping his bounds, but the words caught in his throat and he found himself unable to speak at all. But--what--Inui's larger hands slipped down from his wrists and their fingers twined together briefly before the older boy let go. Kaidoh pulled away quickly, almost falling backward onto his blanket.

"Sorry," Inui murmured, still with his back to Kaidoh. "Thank you. I don't think anyone has ever done that for me before." There was something about Inui's tone that made Kaidoh reach out again, feeling the slight tension that had seeped back into his shoulders.

"Do you get headaches often?" he heard himself ask, and wondered what had possessed him to be so intrusive.

"Not really. Just when I overwork myself."

"You overwork yourself a lot, senpai."

Finally, Inui turned to look at him again--his glasses still off and his eyes still black. "Forty-five percent less than I used to. You seem to have had a moderating effect." Inui's hand was covering his now, and there was a light pressure that could have been a squeeze. "Goodnight, Kaidoh."

Kaidoh twisted his hand around and squeezed back. "Goodnight."

---

It was their last day at the camp, which meant the training was more intense than anything they'd previously done. At the same time, it was easier--they had all improved, and it showed. But that didn't mean they were any less exhausted by the time it was all over, or any less apt to sprawl out on the grass until they regained the energy to move.

He and Inui were sitting shoulder to shoulder under a tree, watching everyone else pant for breath, and then Inui shifted until he was leaning on Kaidoh, even though there was no need. As Kaidoh moved to lean back, he wondered if they had been leaning on each other all along.

end.

IT'S OVER A THOUSAND WOOORDS I HAVE TRIUMPHEEEEEED. /insanity


End file.
